At the tippy top of New York is my inspiration for my coffeehouse blog–North Country. Farms are everywhere and you can buy worms on Main Street. North Country has cities such as Potsdam, Canton and Brasher Falls. It’s beautiful.

While I was visiting last year, I heard a story about a men’s coffee klatch. They meet regularly for the local gossip inside of a barn.

There are many Amish people, vegetable stands alongside the road, and several colleges. There are no Starbucks, which makes it a great place for a coffeehouse.

It gets cold there, which keeps many people away from North Country. But you can get a lot of house and land. A 4 bedroom house plus land for less than $100,000.

Come on people, you go to Starbucks once in a while. Admit it. It’s okay. There’s room for the fantastic independent coffee shop as well as the giant McStarbucks. Even I, who hope to have a lovely little coffeeshop someday, go to Starbucks sometimes.

And now, he’s closing stores for training that he promises will re-energize baristas and enhance the customer experience. Translation: Baristas will learn how to pull the perfect shot again and steam milk to order, not just press a button on the automatic espresso machine. AJC

I love the smell of a coffee roaster but it seems that the smoke was offensive to some in Maine. So Rock City Coffee Roasters is going to raise its smokestack.

ROCKLAND, Maine (AP) — Neighborhood complaints about the odor emanating from a local gourmet coffee roaster have prompted its owner to come up with a plan to increase the height of his roastery’s smokestack.

The proposal by Patrick Reilley, co-owner of Rock City Coffee Roasters, was filed with the code enforcement office after the city cited the business for violating its odor ordinance, which could lead to heavy fines.

The rules barring foul odors are an outgrowth of the public outcry two decades ago when this city of 8,000 along Penobscot Bay was notorious for the stench from a waterfront plant that processed fish waste.

The closing of that plant set the stage for Rockland’s transformation from a down-at-the-heels factory town to a mecca for the arts and a magnet for tourists. AP